Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
Two years ago, a Japanese scholar, Yasuaki Onuma published a paper in the Journal of the History of International Law' in which he studied the concept of the inter- national legal community as conceived and practiced through the ages and across civilizations. He identified two basic concepts which had been followed at various times in history and in different regions of the world: one of them decentralized, regulated by agreements between independent human groups sharing a common world image; the other centralized, governed by unilateral rules of a central State or empire. In a footnote of his paper Onuma describes the current situation as follows: Thus, one could understand, although one may not endorse, why the US tends to apply unilaterally its domestic laws even outside its territory. Since the US is today's version of the central power or empire, it is in a sense natural for it to behave unilaterally, disregarding rules of international law which are based on the principle of equality. The serious problem for the US is that, unlike historical norms surrounding the former empires behaving unilaterally, today's inter- national law is based, not on hierarchical notions, but on the notion of equality of states.
Austrian Review of International and European Law Online – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 2005
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.